Marx's Views in the Light of Industrial and Agricultural Developments in Britain from 1760 to 1830 - Essay Example

Student’s Name] [Instructor’s Name] [Class Name] Class Struggle “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” (Karl Marx, 1848).Consider Marx's views in the light of industrial and agricultural developments in Britain from 1760 to 1830. Introduction While things such as the Glorious Revolution, the French Revolution and the American Revolution are important to historians, The Industrial Revolution is more important to sociologists and economists since it was a major factor in the development of new socioeconomic and cultural changes in the 18th and 19th centuries (Pacey, 1990). It started in Britain and depending on the speed of knowledge transfer in that age and time, it soon spread throughout the world in some shape or the other. Within a few decades, the socioeconomic system that was based on manual labour was to be replaced by a culture which was dominated by industry and manufactured goods (O’Brien, 1982). This situation created a middle class i.e. a bourgeoisie class as main party in whose interest was to gain power over the working proletarian. The conditions also brought to the forefront the idea of class struggle as the foundation of history and the story of human struggle. These ideas were expounded upon in The Communist Manifesto which was first published in 1848 and was written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Fundamentally, the book deals with the program of the communist party as well as the purposes of its foundation. The book recommends a course of action which should be employed to bring about a revolution from the proletariats against the bourgeoisie. The aim of this revolution would be to overthrow a capitalist system which exploits workers and controls the means of production. The eventual aim of the revolution and of the party itself is to create a society that remains classless. Even though the book was written more than a hundred years ago, it still remains relevant today since the class struggle and the negative effects of capitalism remain present. However, its relevance from 1760 to 1830 is even more important since those were the times that capitalism came to be the shape it can be seen now. A New System With the industrial revolution, the idea of a factory came into being which can be considered as the first end to end modernised production system. Raw materials came in from different areas and after useful work had been done on those materials, finished goods could emerge form the other side. Those goods were then sold at a profit and as long as the factory kept running, the owners of those factories would get richer and richer on a daily basis. The emergence of naked capitalism was certainly at hand and the ingredients required to make it happen were already present (Hamilton, 1929). Of course, the factory system also created a huge demand for skilled professionals and semiskilled workers and as a result, migration from rural to urban areas started in earnest. With this migration came the idea of the modern city (Pacey, 1990). The mills and other industries of Manchester stand as a testament to that since it can be considered as the first city to experience the economic boom which comes with industrialisation. The owners of these factories and those who benefited from working within the factories became the middle class (Hobsbawm, 1999). The middle class of the times was neither at the top nor at the bottom of a social hierarchy and had no political power. However, with time the middle class came to be the intermediate social class between the titled nobility and the working peasantry of Europe. The nobles were a remnant of the feudal age, who owned the countryside, while the peasantry worked for them on agricultural fields and farms within the countryside (Wikipedia, 2007). The ‘bourgeoisie’ which translates to town-dwellers took up the functions of acting as professionals, shopkeepers and industrial mill owners and there were occasions when individuals from the ‘middle class’ could claim to be the richest people in Britain (Wikipedia, 2007). However, unlike the nobility and the landowners of the times they could not use their money to get political power and had to settle for the same level of power which was given to the peasants. In fact, the reforms which took place in the politics of the United Kingdom can be seen as the first class struggle in which the bourgeoisie overtook power from the nobility and eventually became the ruling class over time. Of course, a semblance of power was maintained by the nobility but their relationship with the bourgeoisie and the proletariats remains aloof to this day. The haves became the eventual rules while the have-nots remain in their servitude. Perhaps the best example of this is the Reform Act of 1832 which brought some significant changes to how the class struggle was defined. The Reforms The government of the time had tried everything to maintain the status quo but the changes in the environment had also led to the era of enlightenment. In such times, the thinkers of the world had differing opinions about how governments should operate and how the will of the people should be mandated in the laws of the realm. The Reform Act of 1832 which is also known as The Representation of the People Act 1832 was a clear representative of the times and the ideas which were popularised by the growing bourgeoisie. It brought about several important changes to the electoral system since it was created on the basis of correcting the problems which prevented a wider choice for adding members to the House of Commons (National Archives, 2007). The Reform Act itself was proposed by the Whigs in the house who were led by Prime Minister Lord Grey. The proposed legislation was met with strong opposition from the Tory party and almost no support from the House of Lords. It was only due to the public pressure and the class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the nobility that the government was forced to pass the bill. With the passing of the bill, seats were given in the House of Commons to the larger cities that had come up during the Industrial Revolution and represented more of the population (National Archives, 2007). At the same time, the Act took away the seats which were with towns that had lost populations and had become rotten boroughs. Most importantly, the act increased the number of people who were permitted to vote thereby causing more voices to be heard in the government of the nation. The electoral size was more than doubled in a day but even then there were those who felt a lot more had to be done before democracy could take hold. The Act also specifically refused women the right to vote which laid the foundations of the coming of the British suffrage movement (National Archives, 2007). Future Class Struggles Later on, that would become another class struggle between those who had the right to vote in a democratic system and those who did not (National Archives, 2007). The movement was a clear example of the differentiation between the haves and have-nots which is a representation of human history itself. A point of contention can be here since Marx suggested that the class struggle has always been between those who own the means of production and those who work for a living. However, it must be noted that some men also supported the women’s movement for getting their right to vote and even during the class struggles of the industrial revolution; there were those of the bourgeoisie who were asking for universal rights for voting. At the same time, it can not be denied that for sustained periods in many first world countries, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat have worked together for the improvement of both parties even though the gains made by the upper classes are often far greater than the working class. In the final analysis, I do not think that Marx is right to dismiss the history of all society as merely a struggle between classes since cooperation between them is also essential for society to function. Even in a communist society which Marx might have supported, the need for controlling the means of production and the commanding heights of the economy belong to the state. Conclusion I feel that class struggles and the problems between those who own the means of production as well as those who work for them will continue to be important for many decades to come. However, this does not mean that the struggle is necessarily a bad thing since the resulting windfall from the struggle which came up in the industrial revolution led to Britain becoming the foremost empire of the world over which the sun never set. Additionally, it also helped the development of Britain into a services based economy which was the next step in the chain of evolution for the economy. The class struggle and the development of society can also be seen as a natural process which is inherently good for the people than something which should be avoided and abhorred. Word Count: 1.583 Works Cited Hamilton, E. 1929. American treasure and the rise of capitalism. Economica, 27(11), 338-357. Hobsbawm, E. 1999, Industry and Empire: From 1750 to the Present Day, Norton. National Archives. 2007, ‘The Struggle for Democracy: Getting the Vote’, National Archives, [Online] Available at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/struggle_democracy/getting_vote.htm O’Brien, P. 1982, European Economic Development. The Economic History Review, 35(1), 1-18. Pacey, A. 1990, Technology in World Civilization, MIT Press. Wikipedia, 2007. ‘Industrial Revolution’, [Online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution Read More